With Manchester United already in the final, we will find out today whether the defending UEFA Champions League titleholders will face FC Barcelona in a dream final, or face Chelsea in a rematch of last year's final.
Chelsea and Barcelona square off today at Stamford Bridge in the second leg of their semifinal series. After a scoreless first leg, the Blues will need a win to advance, or a scoreless draw to force a 30-minute overtime.
Barcelona is coming off an impressive 6-2 rout of Real Madrid, but the same team won't be taking the field today. Captain and defensive anchor Carles Puyol is suspended and Thierry Henry is out injured, meaning Barcelona will be playing with a make-shift defense and re-worked midfield.
I will be providing commentary on the match (may start late as I return from Red Bulls practice) so please feel free to follow along. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts and opinions on the match in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (lineups after the jump):
————————
POST-GAME– Now we have the final most non-Chelsea fans were praying for. Manchester United vs. Barcelona. The early edge has to go to United, especially considering Barca will be without starting fullbacks Dani Alves and Eric Abidal, who are both out on cards.
That aside, think about it:
Messi vs. Ronaldo
Rio Ferdinand vs. Henry
Rooney vs. Puyol
Vidic vs. Eto'o
I can go on. What a match-up.
I'll make an early prediction of 2-1 to Manchester United.
Thanks for following along today. Please feel free to share your post-game thoughts below.
————————
POST-GAME– So was the ref THAT bad? He was pretty bad. Terrible even. Yes, there were more calls that went against Chelsea, but that's soccer. Bad calls happen. I'm sure Chelsea fans will cry murder because they will have wanted every call, every dive by Drogba and Anelka, and every handball (Pique's being the clearer of the two, but that didn't decide the match (and the Abidal red card was arguably the worst of the ref's bad calls). This loss falls at the feet of Chelsea for not putting Barcelona away despite the man advantage, and not finishing the countless chances they had in the first half. Valdes deserves credit for some great saves, but you need to finish your chances to not leave a match in the hands of the referee.
————————
FINAL– I don't want to say that I'm glad that Chelsea lost, but when you see Ballack act like a complete buffoon and attack the referee the way he did, it's hard to feel bad for him. Same for Drogba, who got a yellow card well after the match. It's a tough loss but you have to win with class and lose with class. Ballack and Drogba showed none after the match.
————————
FINAL– Yes, many will argue that Chelsea deserved better, but Barcelona also suffered from the shaky referee with the red card to Abidal. Chelsea had a man advantage and didn't make it pay off.
Man of the Match? I can't choose between three players. Valdes, Toure and Iniesta. Those three were absolutely terrific today in a game that wasn't exactly pretty for Barcelona.
————————
FINAL– Kudos to Iniesta. Not just for the game-winner, which was amazing, but for being the one star player who stepped up in the second half. He was much more active than Messi, Eto'o and Xavi and looked determined to make something happen. When the chance came, he finished it in clinical fashion.
————————
FINAL– Barcelona 1, Chelsea 1. Barcelona goes through to the final to face Manchester United. WHAT A FINISH!!!!!
Not sure if that last call was a handball, player had his back turned and it hit the back of his arm close to his body.
————————
97th minute– Eto'o out, Sylvinho in. seventh minute of stoppage.
————————
96th minute– Gudjonssen on for Iniesta.
Last chance for Chelsea is blocked. oooh it did hit the hand, but what in the hell did Ballack do afterwards to the ref? Wow.
————————
95th minute– Chelsea corner
————————
94th minute– BRILLIANT goal from Iniesta, who plays the hero. WOW. What a shot, and a nice lay-off pass from Messi. Wow.
————————
92nd minute- GOAL BARCELONA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! INIESTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
————————
90th minute– Stoppage time now.
Eto'o gets a frustration yellow card.
————————
89th minute– Alves sends another ball out of bounds. You would think he had money on the game on Chelsea the way he's wasting chances today.
————————
88th minute– Clock keeps ticking and Barca can't create a chance. Messi looks for a free kick call but the ref wasn't hearing it.
————————
85th minute– I'll tell you what, based on today, I'm not sure how anyone could tell central defense isn't Yaya Toure's natural position. He's been a beast today.
Krkic comes in for Busquets. Needed to make that move.
————————
84th minute– Six minutes to Rome for Chelsea. Can the Blues hold on?
————————
83rd minute– Is Guardiola going to make any subs?
————————
81st minute- Time is running out on Barcelona. Where is Messi? Where is Xavi?
————————
79th minute– Anelka dives, not a drink.
————————
78th minute– Alves sends the free kick a few feet over the bar. Just not good enough.
————————
77th minute– Alex gets a yellow card for a foul on Messi and he will miss the Champions League final if Chelsea wins the series. Barcelona with a dangerous free kick.
————————
75th minute– Can't help but feel that Barcelona not only missed the skill of Henry and Puyol, but also their leadership today. Barca looks flat today.
————————
74th minute– Essien with a yellow for a hard foul on Iniesta.
————————
72nd minute– Belletti is on for Drogba, which means fewer drinks for the game now that Drogba Cousteau is out.
————————
70th minute– 20 minutes left. Barcelona needs just one goal to take this series. Do they have it in them? Messi needs to work some magic.
————————
69th minute– Chelsea wastes the subsequent free kick as Lampard's shot goes wide.
Can Barcelona come back?
————————
67th minute– Anelka was on the run and breaking free with Abidal running behind him and their legs clipped. It was nowhere near intentional. Terrible call and a big hit to Barcelona. A goal down and man down.
————————
66th minute– RED CARD TO ABIDAL!!!! Wow. What a call there. ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE CALL!!!
————————
66th minute– Messi finally makes some space for himself but sends his shot well high. He needs to step it up. I know Malouda and Cole have smothered that side of the field, but he's Messi.
————————
64th minute– I can't recall ever seeing Barcelona with so many mis-timed passes before. They just aren't clicking like usual. Credit to Chelsea for applying good pressure, but some of these bad passes are self-inflicted.
————————
62nd minute– Drogba dives again. DRINK
————————
59th minute– Messi nearly delivered a perfect pass for a chance but Chelsea picks it off. Barca is moving the ball better now.
————————
56th minute– Drogba and Toure go at it in the area again. Sure looked like a Drogba dive. So yes, drink.
————————
55th minute– Alves blasts another ball into the stands for no good reason. We might need to add Alves shots into the stands to the drinking game.
————————
53rd minute– SAVE VALDES!!! The Barca keeper stops a wide-open look from Drogba. WOW.
————————
49th minute– Barcelona corner kick.
————————
47th minute– Free kick wasted by a set play and an Alves blast into the stands.
————————
47th minute– Barcelona draws a dangerous free kick after Bosingwa fouls Iniesta about 20 yards from goal.
————————
46th minute– And we're back. No changes.
————————
HALFTIME– So what are we seeing? Malouda is completely neutralizing Alves, who is so key to Barcelona's attack. Between that and Ballack and Essien outworking Xavi and Busquets is why Barcelona has had so much trouble.
————————
HALFTIME– Chelsea 1, Barcelona 0. Barca is lucky to go in only down one. Valdes has played well and the referee made some questionable decisions that went Barcelona's way. Pep Guardiola has his work cut out at halftime because I don't think that lineup is going to get it done.
————————
45th minute– Iniesta and Xavi just can't find any room to operate. They need to be played centrally together.
————————
45th minute– A little back and forth with no chances during this stretch. Barcelona still hasn't gotten it going and may not with Chelsea keeping so many numbers back.
————————
43rd minute– Do any American fans still hate Ballack for his game-winner vs. the USA in 2002? It's okay to admit it. You're not alone.
————————
38th minute– Messi beats Bosingwa. DRINK.
————————
37th minute– You might think those are dangerous drinking games, but today I only see the Drogba dives being a cause for concern.
————————
36th minute-Time for some drinking games. Drogba dives, Barcelona headers won and Messi beating a defender on the dribble. Drink for any of those.
————————
33rd minute– I wonder if and when we'll see Bojan Krkic in this match.
————————
31st minute– Keita caught Lampard in the mouth with an elbow. Lampard's mouth is bloodied.
————————
30th minute– As for the Alves non-penalty call, I suppose the argument can be that the initial contact occurred outside the area and then the ref started to play advantage before they locked up.
————————
29th minute– Barcelona finally strings some passes together but Alves can't get a head on the final ball in.
————————
27th minute– Drogba and Abidal clash in the area before Valdes can pounce on the ball. Abidal looks like he had a handful of jersey.
————————
25th minute– Drogba rips the free kick across goal but Valdes gets a knee on it. Chelsea nearly heads home the subsequence header. Barcelona is struggling right now.
————————
24th minute– Chelsea with a dangerous free kick on the ridge edge of the area, about four years from the end-line after Alves fouls Malouda. Could have been, maybe should have been, a PK.
————————
23rd minute– Drogba with a near breakaway but Valdez does very well to run out and get the ball away.
————————
21st minute– Whew, Alves flashes a long free kick a few feet wide of goal. Pretty far out and Cech had it covered, but it makes you wonder what Alves will do if he gets a free kick inside 30 yards.
————————
18th minute– How about Malouda's hair? Not sure hot to explain it. Braids Gone Wild?
————————
17th minute– Not sure about Eto'o being stationed on the left flank. Red Bulls fans are saying, "Now you know how we feel about Mac Kandji on the left."
————————
16th minute– it must be said that Essien's left-footed volleye from 25 was pretty insane and amazing.
————————
14th minute– Okay folks, I'm back at the SBI HQ and we've got ourselves a game now. Chelsea's goal is big, but it doesn't change Barcelona's task, which is to score a goal at Stamford Bridge.
————————
9th minute- GOAL CHELSEA!!! Essien with a BLAST
————————
7th minute– Ballack gets away with a handball early. Looks like we'll have a tightly-called match today.
————————
PRE-GAME– My pick for the match is Barcelona advances on away goals with a 1-1 draw.
————————
PRE-GAME– Here is Barcelona's lineup
—————–Eto'o——————-
Iniesta—————————Messi
——————Xavi——————-
————-Keita—–Busquets——–
Abidal——Pique—-Toure—–Alves
—————–Valdes—————-
BENCH- Krkic, Hleb, Gudjonnsen, Pedrito, Caceres, Sylvinho, Pinto
———————
PRE-GAME– Here is Chelsea's lineup
————Drogba—-Anelka—————-
——————-Maloud———————
——–Ballack—-Essien——-Lampard—-
Cole———Alex——-Terry———Bosingwa
——————-Cech————————-
BENCH- Nene, Mikel, Mancienne, DiSanto, Ivanovic, Beletti, Kalou
barca doesnt deserves a win at all……….and dey demselves knw dis…..atleast not d win wch dey got yesterday…i dont hav ne question abt d goal………..but d ref was a fool…..i must say…..
I love how outraged Ballack was. He wasn’t too upset when Frings handled the ball on the line to put Germany through to the Semis in World Cup 2002.
I guess the soccer gods believe in justice after all.
“C: I do believe the referee may take intention into it, should he choose. but yes, looking at more replays, it was a good, if tough, call. ”
No, you are incorrect. Intention plays no part whatsoever in the issuing of a red card for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. I have a memo from the head of the USSF refs discussing the topic and he makes a point to reiterate that intent is not one of the conditions for issuing a red in these cases.
C: I do believe the referee may take intention into it, should he choose. but yes, looking at more replays, it was a good, if tough, call.
We all win and loose in life and one of the most important things that shows the character of a man is how he reacts in defeat.
You would think one would at least have good character to make double my annual salary every week.
How was that a bad call on the red.
Anelka clearly had has feet cliped from behind, and he had a goal scoring opportunity.
Did the Barca player cause Anelka to fall? Of course.
Was it a goal scoring opportunity? Of course.
Clear red. Unquestionably the right call.
If only Guus could replay that first tie. UEFA get rid of this format please.
I’ve never EVER seen a more exciting finish than I watched here between Chelsea and Barcelona. Chelsea seemed their line couldn’t be breached after countless Barca attacks.
Then when all seemed lost, Dani Alves FINALLY sends in a world-class cross he is known for, and Messi works the ball well with Iniesta finishing a world-class finish.
I like Man U in the final. Barca with a healthy Henry could do some damage, but they will be without three of their starting backs. It will hopefully be worth the wait.
The Brit press is crying.
TS. Heck you had as many calls go in favor of Chelsea as Barca. Ballack get’s a way with a handball, Messi pulled down in the box, Abidal being sent off for what?, etc.
Hendick rightly put his finger on it. Chelsea had opportunities to score and didn’t. when the other team has possesion you better take those opportunities. Drogba getting mad at the ref when he could have settled the game himself is more BS.
and by celebrate I mean support….because I obviously can’t think and type at the same time hahaha
This guy: Is it just me or dont you celebrate Manchester United and Barcalona….not that I would see anything wrong with that…other from your just another gloryhunter,but who are you going to root for on the 27th?are you going to flip a coin?
Chelsea were excellent in frustrating Barcelona. Barca looked bad. But does it really make sense to let a team like Barca play basically the entire game in your half? I read the English press disparage Barca’s possession as just a pretty, but ineffective, display. But don’t they realize that, when you give up the ball like Chelsea did, that a goal is only one mistake away? It won’t happen everytime (it didn’t last year with ManU-Barca), but it will happen.
And yeah, the ref was terrible. But again, don’t put yourself in the position where you’re relying on the ref to give you a penalty to win the game…
chelsea can only blame themselves..missed their chances..only one of those pk shouts might have been called (pique handball)..they were a man up and continued to attack in the final 10 minutes..great mentality but the wrong one..pass the ball around and kill the game off..kudos to barca for continuing their passing fluency and expertise..will be a cracking final and i’m expecting at 3-2 win for barca..their defense will be suspect without 3 pivotal defenders but they pass the ball around the whole game no matter who the opponent so i dont see it being a big problem..respect
Over two games chelsea played with a not to lose attitude but thankfully the team that plays the beautiful game won. For once the footballing gods prevailed!
Just a random point, people saying they watched the game in HD…you didn’t. Just because something airs on a HD channel doesn’t make it HD. The signal is certainly clearer than watching on FSC, but nowhere close to the actual HD that espn provides for World Cup qualifiers and MLS games…
jai_brooklyn:
It was bad reffing on both sides, agreed. Chelsea should have had the penalty on the hand ball. Absolutley obvious. The red card was also a bad call. The ref shouldn’t have been there. He clearly changed the outcome of the game.
I no longer believe in the legitimacy of UEFA competitions. Last year the quarterfinal draw was fixed. This year some no-name ref was assigned to a huge match. Watch UEFA throw some punishment on him later and absolve themselves of any responsibility. The financial incentive for a Barca-Man U final is pretty clear, so the motive is there.
All very fishy.
Looks like most people here think Chelsea was done in by bad refereeing. But wasn’t it Barca who were playing with 10 after an atrocious call??
“I don’t want to say that I’m glad that Chelsea lost…”
Why not? It’s apparent in everything you wrote.
Posted by: Matt | May 06, 2009 at 05:43 PM
Huh? I said I was happy Barca went through, never tried to hide the fact I like barca
What a joke! Screw Barca! Chelsea deserved to win that game, and the ref was crap. The missed handball was a much worse call than the red card.